II. PRESIDENT AND JUDGES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT (Articles 9 - 20 )

Article 9

Any citizen of the Republic of Slovenia who is a legal expert and has reached at least 40 years of age may be elected a Constitutional Court judge.

Article 10

(1) The President of the Constitutional Court is elected by secret ballot by the judges of the Constitutional Court from among their own number for a term of three years. The election must be held prior to the expiry of the term of office of the incumbent President of the Constitutional Court.

(2) When absent from office, the President of the Constitutional Court is substituted for by the Vice-President of the Constitutional Court, who is elected for the same term and in the same manner as determined in the preceding paragraph.

Article 11

The President of the Constitutional Court notifies the President of the Republic and the National Assembly of the expiry of the term of office of a Constitutional Court judge no later than six months before the expiry of the term of office.

Article 12

(1) Within 30 days of receiving the notice referred to in the preceding article, the President of the Republic publishes a call for candidates for the office of Constitutional Court judge in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

(2) Proposed candidatures must be submitted within a period which may not be shorter than 30 days, or in the event of early termination of office, not shorter than 15 days of the publication of the call for candidates. Proposed candidatures must include a statement of reasons and the written consent of candidates that they accept their candidature.

Article 13

(1) The President of the Republic proposes candidates for vacant positions on the Constitutional Court from among the candidates proposed in the manner determined in the preceding article, and he may additionally propose other candidates.

(2) The President of the Republic may propose more candidates than there are vacant positions on the Constitutional Court. Each proposed candidature must include a statement of reasons and the written consent of the candidate.

Article 14

(1) The National Assembly elects Constitutional Court judges by secret ballot by a majority vote of all deputies.

(2) If no Constitutional Court judge is elected, the President of the Republic conducts a new procedure in accordance with Article 12 of this Act no later than 14 days after the day of voting in the National Assembly, or within the same period of time proposes candidates for vacant positions on the Constitutional Court from among the candidates who applied to the previous call or from among other candidates in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 13 of this Act.

(3) If also on the basis of a new proposal no Constitutional Court judge is elected, the election is held on the basis of a new procedure in accordance with Article 12 of this Act, for which the President of the Republic publishes a call no later than eight days after the day of voting in the National Assembly. The period for collecting proposals for possible candidates may not be shorter than 15 days after the call is published.

(4) If the President of the Republic proposes more candidates than there are Constitutional Court judges to be elected, the order of candidates on the ballot paper is determined by lot. If none of the candidates receives the required majority or if an insufficient number of judges is elected, those candidates who received the highest number of votes are voted on again. As many candidates are voted on as the number of judges required to be elected to the Constitutional Court. If, even after a repeated election, an insufficient number of candidates are elected to the Constitutional Court, a new election is held on the basis of new candidatures.

(5) Candidates may withdraw their candidatures until voting begins.

Article 15

After being elected, a Constitutional Court judge takes the following oath before the National Assembly:

"I swear that I shall judge according to the Constitution, the law, and my conscience and that I shall strive with all my power for constitutionality, legality, and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms."*

(1) The office of Constitutional Court judge is not compatible with:
- office in state authorities, in local community authorities, in the bodies of political parties, and in the bodies of trade unions;
- work in state authorities, in local community authorities, and work for bearers of public authority;
- membership in the management and supervisory bodies of companies, institutions, and cooperatives;
- the pursuit of an occupation or gainful activity, except for the position of higher education teacher, researcher, or associate of a higher education institution.

(2) From the day a Constitutional Court judge takes office, he ceases to hold the office or perform the work referred to in the first and second indents of the preceding paragraph.

(3) No later than three months after being elected, the Constitutional Court judge elected must cease to perform the activities referred to in the third and fourth indents of the first paragraph of this article. If he does not do so, his office of Constitutional Court judge terminates.

Article 17

(1) An elected Constitutional Court judge takes office after taking the oath of office.

(2) If the term of office of the outgoing judge has not yet expired, the elected Constitutional Court judge takes office on the day the term of office of the outgoing judge expires.

(3) In the instance referred to in the third paragraph of the preceding article, the elected Constitutional Court judge takes the office of Constitutional Court judge on the day he ceases to perform the incompatible activity.

Article 17a

(1) If the President of the Republic proposes candidates for more than one vacant position on the Constitutional Court held by judges whose term of office expires on the same day, and the National Assembly does not elect candidates for all vacant positions, in instances in which the election of new judges is no longer possible before the expiry of the term of office of outgoing judges, which of the judges whose term of office is due to expire should perform such office after the expiry of their term of office until the required number of new judges are elected is determined by lot.

(2) The drawing of lots referred to in the preceding paragraph is carried out at a Constitutional Court session in a manner determined by the Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court in the presence of the President of the National Assembly.

(3) The drawing of lots is carried out no later than ten days before the expiry of the term of office of the Constitutional Court judge; if such is not possible, it is carried out no later than the next day after the result of the voting in the National Assembly is made public.

(4) After the drawing of lots referred to in the preceding paragraphs, the Constitutional Court publishes the name of the Constitutional Court judge who is to continue to perform office in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

Article 18

(1) Constitutional Court judges enjoy the same immunity as deputies of the National Assembly.

(2) The National Assembly decides on a request submitted by a competent authority to initiate criminal proceedings against a Constitutional Court judge, after obtaining the opinion of the Constitutional Court, no later than 30 days after the day the request is submitted. The Constitutional Court must provide such opinion no later than eight days after the day it was notified of the request of the competent authority to initiate criminal proceedings.

Article 19

(1) Upon the proposal of the President of the Republic, the National Assembly dismisses a Constitutional Court judge before the expiration of his term of office in the instances determined by the Constitution.

(2) The President of the Constitutional Court notifies the President of the Republic of the occurrence of an instance referred to in the preceding paragraph.

(3) If a Constitutional Court judge himself requests dismissal, the President of the Constitutional Court sends his request to the President of the Republic. The President of the Republic proposes the dismissal of the Constitutional Court judge to the National Assembly, which dismisses the Constitutional Court judge on the day proposed by the Constitutional Court judge.

(4) When a Constitutional Court judge is dismissed due to a final conviction for a criminal offence and punished by imprisonment or due to permanent loss of capacity to perform his office, the office of the Constitutional Court judge is terminated the next day after the publication of the decision on dismissal in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

Article 20

(1) Constitutional Court judges have professional attire, that is, the judicial robe.

(2) The type of professional attire and the manner of wearing such are prescribed by the Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court.